Artemis Fowl's Second Chance
by Andrew Smithers
Summary: By the time Butler caught the falling boy in his arms, Artemis Fowl's body was already dead. But wait. What if Artemis didn't need the clone?
1. Chapter 1

**(A/N: So… I have about a zillion fanfictions, and this is another one that I felt needed to get out there. Let me know what you think! This was designed to be a one-shot, but I can add more chapters if you guys want.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own Artemis Fowl)**

 _There was no more time for questions. The green mist was sucked backward into the Berserker Gate as though drawn by a vacuum. For a moment Artemis was left standing, unharmed, and Butler dropped Holly to rush to his charge's side. Then Artemis's fairy eye glowed green, and by the time Butler caught the falling boy in his arms, Artemis Fowl's body_

 _was already dead._

Artemis Fowl felt the magic searching his body, finding Holly's eye. he saw it glow green, then everything went black. he felt a sense of nothingness creep up his legs. _No_ , he thought. _I will not let death claim me this easily._ he searched with his mind and found the residual magic from Bruin Fadda's original spell and latched his consciousness onto it like his life depended on it, which it did. Upon anchoring himself to the living world, Artemis found that he could see. He blinked in the bright light and found that he seemed to have a body, if not an ethereal one. Artemis saw Butler and Holly some distance away, leaning over a body, and on closer inspection, he saw that it was his.

Was.

Butler was attempting to perform CPR on the lifeless form, trying everything he knew to force life back into it. Holly sat next to him, unmoving and expressionless. _She's in shock,_ Artemis realized.

"It's no use," He said. "I'm dead."

Of course, neither Butler nor Holly heard him. Eventually, Butler stood, and without knowing it, repeated almost exactly what Artemis had said.

"It's no use," he said. "He's dead. Gone."

Holly broke down into tears, burying her face into the bodyguard's leg. Butler effortlessly picked her up as he would a child, and Holly sobbed into his shoulder for several minutes, Butler fighting a losing fight to hold back his own tears. It made Artemis sad to see the only true friends he'd had in life so distraught, and he desperately wished for a way to comfort them, to let them know that he was still there. Eventually, Holly got down from Butler's shoulder and wiped her eyes on her sleeve.

"I have to get back to Haven," she said. "To help clean up Opal's mess." she glanced at the dead pixie, still staring, hating her even in death.

Butler simply nodded, not trusting his voice at the moment. As Holly and Butler went their ways, Holly in the direction of the front gate, Butler to the Manor, undoubtedly to his dojo to meditate, Artemis was torn on who to follow. He eventually decided on following Butler. As he ran, he found that if he concentrated hard enough, he could flatten the grass with his feet and pluck leaves from their branch. Artemis smirked, a plan forming in his ethereal mind.

Butler quickly entered his dojo, closing and locking the door behind him. Artemis simply walked through it and saw that Butler was already lighting incense candles. He licked his thumb and forefinger, and concentrating hard, clamped them over the candle that Butler had just lit. He looked surprised, then curious, then lit it again. By then, Artemis had his fingers over two more candles and extinguished them simultaneously. This time, Butler actually scrambled backwards.

"Who's there?" he asked. "Show yourself."

"I can't, old friend," Artemis responded, even though he knew Butler couldn't hear him. He noticed a pen and notepad on a short table. Artemis concentrated harder than he had so far, picked up the pen, and wrote 2 words.

 _It's Artemis._

Butler took one look at the paper and fainted.

-1 week later-

Holly closed her front door and sat down on her futon, clutching her forehead. She'd just had it under an electron microscope, _again,_ and those things gave her killer migraines. She looked at the picture of Artemis on her bedside table, and for the first time, realization hit her like a bull troll on steroids.

 _Artemis is dead. Gone._

Holly put her head in her hands and wept, tears streaming between her fingers. Behind her, seemingly on its own, a pen wrote furiously on a piece of paper. Then, a shadow flickered on the wall. In the shape of Artemis Fowl.

After the little episode with Butler, Artemis laid low for about a week, then found out that he could "teleport" himself different places by, you guessed it, concentrating. Something Artemis happened to be excellent at. He focused on Holly, and he teleported to where she was, which seemed to be her apartment. Artemis watched as she picked up a picture of him, then her face went stark white and she put her head in her hands, shoulders shaking from the force of the racking sobs that overtook her. The pitiful sounds issuing from the poor Elf were too much for Artemis to bear, causing him to feel tears trickling down his ethereal cheeks, from empathy he didn't know he had. He grabbed a pen and paper and wrote a short, hopefully comforting note for Holly to find later.

 _Dear Holly,_

 _Do not give up hope. My body may be dead, but my soul is still anchored to the living world. In time, with the completion of the clone, I will be back._

 _-Artemis_

Artemis suddenly noticed that the room was completely silent, other than the slight scratching of the pen on paper. He looked up to see a very wide-eyed Holly, her mismatched eyes still glistening with tears staring straight into his own, though how she knew where they were, Artemis had no idea. She stood, as though in a trance, her eyes still locked onto his. Out of instinct, he took a step back, thinking he would simply pass through the wall. As it happened, that wasn't to be the case at all. Several things happened in the next few seconds:

Artemis whacked his head on a shelf, falling on the floor and passing out.

Holly screamed like a baby pixette and actually dove to the other side of the duvet, peeking over the top like a cartoon character.

Before he passed out, he realized three things:

He could come into contact with things without trying

Holly could apparently see him

He could feel pain. In his ethereal form, he could not feel anything.

Artemis deduced from these evaluations, in less time than it took for him to fall on the floor, that somehow, he was alive.

 **(A/N: Well. What do y'all think? More chapters? Please review!)**


	2. Chapter 2

**(A/N: You remember how I said the last chapter was a one-shot?**

 **I was wrong.**

 **Thanks to** _ **certain people**_ **(Saars and Guest. In all reality, thanks) I have decided to continue. Enjoy!)**

Artemis woke up still in Holly's apartment, thank goodness, but the Elf was nowhere to be seen. Which was unfortunate, because the first word out of his newly living mouth was, "Holly."

He sat up and immediately regretted it. His head throbbed like two bull trolls had gotten into a fight with large hammers and Sonix bombs.

"Ugh," he groaned. He painfully stood up and rifled through Holly's cabinets to try and find something to help with his migraine. Turns out, he didn't have to look very hard, because there was a small bottle of Tylenol on the counter.

Normal, Human manufactured Tylenol. How interesting.

Artemis withdrew two pills and swallowed them. Instantly, his head stopped throbbing.

 _Not Human Tylenol then. That takes awhile to work._

He cautiously opened the front door, careful of any fairies that may be out. Seeing none, Artemis crept to the stairs and took them two at a time, eventually exiting straight onto the streets of Haven. He was surprised to see that there were absolutely zero fairies, and assumed that they were all elsewhere, until he saw a giant clock read 12:47 PM.

So everybody was asleep. Good.

Another thought hit him. If everybody was asleep, then where was Holly? If she wasn't at her apartment, there were two other places: her office, or Fowl Manor. Artemis decided to check Police Plaza first, because why not? It was closer and clearly visible, as it was the one of the only buildings still standing after all the Koboi tech exploded. He ran toward the building, surprised at his newfound speed and stamina. _If this is what being dead does to you, bring it on._ Artemis knew it wasn't that. He had been concentrating for most of the week on building muscle mass, which would have hopefully transferred itself to the clone. If it didn't, oh well.

The clone.

Artemis ran faster, finding a new motivation to get to Police Plaza. He had to tell Foaly to stop work on the clone. His clone. Oh, how ironic. Artemis burst through the front doors, and about a dozen officers' heads snapped in his direction, stunned. One of them, Commander Trouble Kelp, recovered first.

"What the… You… How?" he asked.

"Where's Holly?" Artemis demanded.

Chix Verbil snapped out of his stunned stupor. "Up in Foaly's office, undergoing therapy. Apparently, she saw the ghost of Artemis Fowl." He smirked. "Turns out it wasn't a ghost."

Artemis didn't hear his comment, because he was already bolting up the stairs, pulling the directions to Foaly's office from memory. He got to his office to see that the glass was opaque, not allowing him to see inside. And his door was locked, as always. Artemis took several deep breaths to calm his nerves, then knocked three times on the glass door. One high, one in the middle, one low. His knock code for Foaly. After a few seconds, the door opened a fraction and Foaly's head poked through the crack. Upon seeing him, the centaur's eyes widened so much that Artemis was genuinely worried that they would fall out of his head.

"A-Artemis? What the… How?" he stammered.

Artemis heard Holly run to the door, and she flung it wide open, Foaly still too stunned to react. Holly wore the same stunned expression on her elfin features, and Artemis' snarky comment was too much to resist.

"I have been summoned from beyond the grave to deliver a message: Stop work on the clone immediately."

Holly's stunned expression melted, replaced by one of pure joy, and tears streamed down her face as she launched herself upward, wrapping Artemis' shoulders in a hug, which he returned after slight hesitation. Finally, she detached herself and asked, "How? You - I saw you die."

Artemis smiled. "I don't know. What matters is that I am alive and, from what I can tell, perfectly fine."

Foaly, ever the scientist, insisted that he run tests on Artemis , which he adamantly refused. "I have no time for tests, Foaly. I have to see my family."

The centaur relented and requested a shuttle for two. Artemis and Holly would go to the surface and help his parents cope with everything.

Two hours later, Artemis and Holly were at the gate to Fowl Manor. He smiled fondly. "Home at last. This is where I belong. Living, breathing, and most importantly, planning." He smirked at Holly and she rolled her eyes.

"Come on, Mud Boy. Let's tell your parents that you're alive."

Artemis frowned. He was not a _boy_ anymore. He was 18, for goodness sake. Holly saw his expression and unconsciously copied it. "What?" she asked.

"Nothing." Artemis shook his head. There would be time for talking later. Besides, he was beginning to think that _Mud Boy_ was becoming Holly's pet name for him. Surprisingly enough, if he thought about it that way, he didn't mind at all. Artemis strode confidently through the gate, and a klaxon blared as a laser was interrupted. He grinned. Any second, Butler would come running and see him alive and well. Artemis was not disappointed; He could see Butler's silhouette approaching rapidly, then it stumbled and stopped.

Even from 100 meters away, Artemis could hear his surprised voice. "Artemis?"

Artemis lifted his hands in an _it's me_ gesture. "It is me, old friend. I am alive and well."

Butler cleared the remaining 100 meters in about 10 seconds, probably breaking several speed records. He enveloped Artemis in a crushing hug, then asked. "How? Foaly's clone isn't supposed to be complete for several months."

Artemis grinned. "Let's go inside. I don't want to have to explain this twice."

10 minutes later, Angeline, Artemis I, Myles, Beckett, and Juliet were all sitting at the large dining table while Artemis II finished explaining how he came back to life.

"- Then I saw Holly's eyes, and I thought, 'How is she looking at me? She doesn't even know I'm here.' Then I attempted to retreat through the wall, but my head hit a shelf, and that's when I found out that I was alive."

Angeline had tears in her eyes. "How?" she asked. "How did you come back to life?"

"At the moment, I do not know, though I do have a few theories," Artemis glanced at Holly. "Some of which involve who was in the room when I came back."

Holly blushed marginally, but it was enough for Artemis to notice. He leaned in close and whispered, "We'll talk about that particular theory later, with Foaly."

Holly nodded, smiling.

"In short," Artemis addressed everybody, "I am alive, and I plan to stay that way." He couldn't help but chuckle at his joke.

A joke? More must have changed than just his strength. He could've sworn he was beginning to sound like… _Not now, Artemis. Focus._

Mother saw Artemis' expression and frowned. "Is something wrong, Arty?" she asked. "Do you have a headache?"

Artemis jerked himself out of his thoughts and said, "No, mother. I am fine. I was... thinking. On a different note, I need to return to Haven, so Foaly can run tests."

Angeline nodded. "Go, then. I know how important these 'tests' are to that centaur."

"Thank you." Artemis, Holly and Butler exited the room, all eager to get to Haven, all for different reasons.

 **(A/N: Hmm… How** _ **did**_ **Artemis come back to life? Review for more!)**


	3. Chapter 3

**(A/N: Sorry I haven't updated this in awhile. I have three other active fanfics [read them, they're great!] and about five more that I hope to publish soon.**

 **Enjoy!)**

Several hours later, Foaly had Artemis connected to just about every medical device he owned, and a few that he borrowed. He trotted around the equipment in a cleanroom suit, occasionally letting out an annoyed whinny. Eventually, the centaur's constant mutterings were too much for Artemis.

"What is it, Foaly?" Artemis asked.

Foaly _hmm_ ed. "It would appear that you now have… but that can't be right… My sensors are telling me you have Fairy DNA."

Artemis was only a little bit surprised. He had suspected it from the moment he had woken up. So instead of Foaly's expected reaction of surprise and shock, Artemis reacted with curiosity.

"What does that mean?" he asked. "Will there be physical changes?"

Foaly thought for a minute. "According to my mental calculations, there is upwards of an 87% chance that there will be physical changes." He grabbed a scalpel off the counter next to him. "If you have magic, then I can prove my calculations."

Artemis nodded and extended his arm, knowing what Foaly was about to do. The centaur wielded the scalpel expertly, making a shallow cut on the inside of Artemis' forearm. Nothing happened for a few seconds, then a flurry of blue sparks cascaded over the wound, sealing it.

"That proves it." Foaly said. "You are officially a Fairy."

Artemis sat back, processing this information. "So that means that I will most likely have a dramatic decrease in height, is that correct?"

Foaly shrugged. "I don't know. This is the first time that this has happened, ever. However, that is my best guess."

Artemis nodded. "What should we tell the others?" Holly and Butler had been prohibited from entering the lab, as Foaly had needed a perfectly sterile environment.

"Simple." Foaly said, unhooking the several machines. "The truth. They're going to find out anyway." He finished with the machines and opened the door, beckoning Butler and Holly inside.

"So?" Holly asked. "What were the results?"

Artemis stood, smiling. "I am a Fairy."

Holly gasped while Butler groaned quietly.

"Great." the bodyguard muttered. "Now it's going to be even harder to take care of you."

"Really?" Holly asked, amazed. She didn't really know what to think of this revelation. Part of her wanted to be happy, because Artemis could now live in Haven, but the other part of her was sad because Artemis could no longer live with his family.

"As far as I or Foaly know, yes. And while we do not yet know what physical results may transpire from this, I am fully prepared."

Butler was not yet convinced. "Let me see proof that you're a Fairy, Artemis. It's nothing personal, I just want to see for myself."

"I understand, Butler," Artemis said, grabbing the scalpel off the table. "I would do the same thing."

And having said that, Artemis slashed his arm, leaving a deep cut that gushed blood.

"Artemis!" Holly cried, rushing to his aid. Artemis held up his uncut arm, the universal signal for _stop_. He showed the occupants of the room his other arm, the cut on which which had already reduced to a white scar. As they watched, it disappeared in less than a second.

"Wow," said Foaly. "That was a fast healing if I ever saw one."

 _Hmm…_ Artemis thought.

Several minutes later, Artemis stepped into Holly's apartment, Holly herself having volunteered to let him stay there for the night. It was small, one bedroom, a bathroom, living space and a kitchen/dining room combo.

Artemis grimaced when he saw the shelf that he had whacked his head on, then suddenly felt a tingle of pain shoot through his forehead. Not enough to cause alarm, but enough that Artemis noticed. _It must be a headache,_ he thought. _Either that, or phantom pain. Or possibly a side effect of my Fairy DNA._

Holly motioned toward the couch in the small living space. "The couch unfolds into a futon," she said. "Feel free to sleep on that. The sheets are in my closet, I'll go get them."

"Thanks, Holly - _ah_." Artemis clutched his forehead as another bolt of pain, stronger this time, seared across his skull, temporarily blurring his vision.

"Artemis? What's wrong?" Holly sounded concerned now, and for good reason, as it happened.

"It's this - _argh_ \- forehead pain. I think it…" Artemis was unable to say any more, as the pain now came harder and with less time in between attacks. He collapsed on the couch, cradling his head in between his arms. Sparks flurried around his temples, oddly not seeming to know what to do.

As Holly watched, one of the sparks slammed into Artemis' crown, eliciting a shout of pain from Artemis. A small bump appeared where it had impacted. Other sparks seemed to take up the idea and slammed themselves into Artemis. He was lifted off the couch, screaming as they hit him from underneath, such was the force of their impact. Artemis was beyond noises now, and Holly didn't dare try to help, out of fear of making it worse.

The sparks continued to slam into various parts of Artemis' body, lengthening his ears, widening his forehead and shortening his legs and arms. Within a minute, Artemis' limp and Elf-sized form landed with a _CRASH!_ On Holly's apartment floor. The sparks disappeared, retracting back into Artemis' forehead.

"Artemis!" Holly rushed to her friend's side, cradling his head in her hands. "Artemis," she sobbed. "Wake up, Artemis!" She clamped her eyes shut in an unsuccessful attempt to stop her tears from flowing.

After a few seconds, Artemis groaned, reaching up to grasp one of Holly's hands.

"Holly…"

Holly's eyes flew open to see Artemis' staring back, clearly still in pain, and, for some reason, some sort of mix between blue and hazel.

"Artemis?" she said hopefully.

Artemis reached up to Holly's cheek, caressing it.

 _What is he doing?_ Holly thought.

"I don't think I've ever seen you this beautiful…" he said between labored breaths. A blissful smile came onto his face. "except when we're the same size." He closed his eyes and a flurry of sparks cascaded around his torso. Holly scrambled back, remembering the vicious sparks from earlier.

But these were normal sparks, healing the bruises and welts the vicious sparks had left. Artemis' back arched, and then he lay still, breathing slowly and evenly. Holly dropped to his side, quickly checking his pulse. Relieved that it was normal, Holly lifted Artemis' limp frame, placing it gently on the couch, then she retired to her room and changed for bed. Her last thought before she fell asleep was, _Looks like Foaly was right. Arty's an elf now._

 **(Well! That escalated quickly! What do you think will happen next? What do you think** _ **should**_ **happen next?**

 **Don't forget to review!)**


	4. Chapter 4

**(A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in awhile, life's been busy.**

 **Enjoy!)**

The boy was in a terrible amount of pain. He knew that because he could feel it, but he had no idea why. For some reason, the pain seemed the most intense around his ears. He reached up to touch them and found that they were pointed. When his fingers made contact, pain flew through his temples as though he had been shot.

If the boy could yell, he would have, but his voice did not work. He could not see anything, or hear. So he may have shouted, but he couldn't tell. All he knew was this agonizing pain, and, for some reason, he seemed to be an elf. Eventually, the pain became so intense that it abruptly stopped, becoming nothing more than a tingling, like pins and needles.

Now that the elf could not feel the pain, he was able to focus on other things, like the hazy face above him, looking downright panicked.

"Holly…" he said. He didn't know why he said it; who was 'Holly?'.

"Artemis?" the girl, 'Holly', said nervously. When she said this, the elf mused, _That must be my name_. He remembered something about… he had been a Human? Ah, yes. The elf remembered now. He was Artemis Fowl, and this was Holly Short, the brave elf who had saved his life multiple times.

Holly is beautiful, he thought randomly. And because he thought it, he said it, touching her cheek.

"I don't think I've ever seen you this beautiful… except when we're the same size."

Then Artemis Fowl closed his eyes and slipped into unconsciousness.

Artemis opened his eyes and felt that he was no longer in pain. _That's good_ , he thought. He seemed to be… well, to tell the truth, Artemis didn't know _where_ he was. He was standing, but on apparently nothing. Just a flat, blank nothing.

All Artemis could see was white. White as far as the eye could see. He was reminded of Jon Spiro's penthouse, and the white painting on the wall.

As if by magic, Jon Spiro appeared a short distance away, with the painting next to him. Artemis jumped back, ready to fight.

"Oh, Artemis," Jon said, his voice echoing. "I'm not here to fight you. In fact, I don't know what I'm here for."

Artemis narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean, Spiro?" he asked skeptically.

"Exactly what I said," Jon replied. "I don't know why I'm here. You summoned me with your mind." He walked over to Artemis. "I will remember this when I wake, but I will most likely dismiss it as deja vu."

"How do you know?" Artemis asked, still not ready to trust his old enemy.

"This is the Land of Dreams, Artemis. You achieve a higher consciousness while you are here. I know this because I've been here once before, and when I woke up, I did all the research I could on the topic."

"Interesting," Artemis mused.

"I should really thank you," continued Spiro. "I looked into your mind - Yes, I can do that," he said, noticing Artemis' shocked expression. "And you can too. I looked into your mind and saw your intentions for stealing back your C cube all those years ago."

He put a hand on Artemis' shoulder, and for some reason, Artemis didn't flinch or shrug it off. "I'm sorry that I was so greedy back then. You were trying to protect a species that was equal, maybe even superior, to humans. I commend you for that." And with that, Jon Spiro faded from Artemis' current existence, along with the painting.

Artemis was stunned. The Land of Dreams? He had read about it once, at least ten years ago, but he had dismissed it as a scam. Now he was experiencing it in real life.

He thought about what Jon Spiro had said. _I came here because you summoned me with your mind._ He hadn't seemed surprised to see that Artemis was an elf, but then again, Jon Spiro wasn't surprised by much.

 _If I can call Jon Spiro, maybe I can call Holly_. No sooner had he thought this than Holly appeared, looking worried.

"Artemis?" she asked. "Where am I? Where are we?"

Artemis shrugged. "Apparently, we are in the Land of Dreams. Were you asleep before this?"

Holly nodded.

"Okay…" Artemis said. "That answers one question. However, I have another, for you." He summoned a pair of chairs and sat in one. Holly sat in the other, looking wonderous.

"How are you coping with… this?" he motioned to his elfin body.

"Uhm, I'm… coping." Holly said. "I don't know, I haven't really had time to digest it yet."

"Hmm…" Artemis sent a probe into Holly's mind, much like the way she had done with him, except she apparently didn't feel it. What he saw startled him. Holly… no, it was impossible.

Artemis gave a barely visible shudder. Then something surprising happened. The whiteness seemed to disappear, vanishing from sight as though being painted away, replaced by... nothingness. Not black, just... imagine trying to see something out of your big toe. That's what was behind the whiteness.

"The Land of Dreams is dissolving," he realized. "Well, our Land of dreams, at any rate. I must be waking up."

Holly smiled. "Well, if it is," she said. She didn't seem to notice that her arm and leg were disappearing, along with a corner of her head, revealing bone, tissue, and the greyish matter that was her brain. "Then I'd just like to say that... Arty, I…" She could not say more, because the disappearing virus had rapidly claimed the rest of her body, and the landscape.

Artemis' real eyes snapped open. He was on Holly's couch, and from what he heard, Holly had just woken up too.

 _'Arty, I...' what?_ he thought.

6,000 miles away, in the Spiro Needle in the bustling city of Chicago, Jon Spiro awoke in a cold sweat. Which was unusual for him, because he almost never did. The last time that had happened was his first day in prison. Then he remembered the dream he had had. It seemed to have been… Artemis Fowl? And… he was an elf?

Then he remembered their conversation.

The Land of Dreams.

"Oh goodness," he said aloud. "I need to find him."

"Find who?" His new personal bodyguard, Pex, asked. He had taken his place standing next to the door of Spiro's bedroom.

"I gotta find Artemis Fowl." Jon jumped out of his bed and pulled on a suit. He had forgone all white years ago, and was now wearing a black sports suit.

"Wasn't he the kid that stole your C Cube?" Pex asked, looking confused. He may have gotten an education and training, but he could still be a bit slow sometimes.

"Yes, yes, him. And it wasn't my C Cube."

Pex decided not to ask further questions. His boss could still get a little irritated. "Are there any preparations you need?"

Jon nodded. "Prepare the helicopter. I'm goin' on a flight to Ireland."

 **(A/N: What's going to happen with Spiro? What did you think of the Land of Dreams?**

 **Review please!)**


	5. Author's Note

Hey! _I_ will no longer be writing this story! I have moved (I say moved, I mean _given_ ) all my stories to my coauthor and friend, Lukas Turner. He's just started writing fanfiction, but I've seen some of his works and they are amazing, if not a *little* out of my 'moral zone', if you will.

I have given him permission to do what he wants with the stories, so if anything _embarassing_ comes up, don't blame me.

Oh. You know how I said I gave _all_ my stories to Lukas? Well, all of them _except_ Finding Again. That one's staying with me.

I'm sure you're all wondering by now why I'm doing this (If you weren't, you are now). Simply, my life has become too busy to be running four fanfictions, as you can tell by the fact that I haven't uploaded anything in a month. Hopefully, Lukas will update a lot more often.

Thanks! I will have Lukas post the original story, along with the chapters he adds on.

Enjoy all those stories from him, and Finding Again from me!


End file.
